canopy herbivory and leaf traits of tree communities in tropical montane rainforests of southern Ecuador

This dataset contains herbivory data estimated as leaf area loss [cm²] and [%] and several leaf traits measured either conventionally or via spectral sensing-based techniques from canopies of tree communities in tropical montane rainforests of the Andes in southern Ecuador between February and March in 2019.
The data were used by Schön et al. (in prep) to evaluate whether leaf traits are valuable indicators of canopy herbivory mainly caused by arthropods and further, whether chemical leaf traits estimated via spectral sensing-based techniques have similar strong relations to herbivory as leaf traits measured conventionally. Herbivory was estimated with the software WinFOLIA ™ 2019a from scanned mature and sun-exposed leaves of tree canopies. Spectral sensing-based leaf traits comprising secondary plant metabolites and both structural and nutritional cell components were estimated from leaves with an OceanOptics spectrometer HDX. Conventionally measured leaf traits comprising morphological and nutritional traits were derived by applying both elemental and morphometrical analyses (e.g., ICP analysis, a digital micrometer and penetrometer). For detailed descriptions of the methodology see Schön et al. (in prep), Homeier et al. (2021), and Limberger et al. (2021).
Research was conducted by the subprojects A1, B1, and B4 within the framework of the RESPECT project (Environmental changes in biodiversity hotspot ecosystems of South Ecuador: RESPonse and feedback effECTs) funded by the DFG with the grant numbers: BE1780/51-1, BE1780/51-2, Ho3296/6-1, FA 925/11-1, FA 925/11-2, FA 925/16-1, BR1293/17-1.